Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) has come under pressure to sack chief executive Jes Staley over his ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ed Bramson, owner of Sherborne Investors which holds 5.51% of the bank, said the board should revoke their unanimous recommendation for Staley’s re-election in May.
READ: Former top Barclays executives cleared of fraud charges
“Barclays disclosed in February that United Kingdom regulators have been investigating, since December 2019, certain characterisations of Staley’s relationship with Epstein and they will doubtless report in due course,” Bramson was quoted as saying by the Guardian.
“However, we do not see why it is necessary or appropriate to push this decision off to the regulators when the determination of Staley’s suitability is clearly the board’s responsibility.”
Staley has been under investigation since December to understand the extent of his relationship with Epstein, who died in prison before his trial for trafficking underage girls.
Barclays repeated to the Guardian its support for Staley’s re-election, however the Financial Times revealed last month the search for a successor is underway.
Source told me last week that one of the hurdles to removing Jes Staley from @barclays - if directors chose to do so - is lack of successor. Sounds like they are ready to look actively now https://t.co/IcKHBaLpLy via @financialtimes
— Kate Kelly (@katekelly) February 24, 2020
Last year, Bramson attempted to join the FTSE 100-listed bank’s board but only 12.8% of shareholders voted to let him in.
He has long been pushing for a downsizing of the investment bank, claiming it could improve Barclays' financial strength and increase shareholder value.
Shares slipped 4% to 143.5p on Monday afternoon.